Michael Bennett of the Seattle Seahawks recently called on Whites in the NFL to support Blacks in their protests against racism. The initial response of Whites has fallen far short of what a Marxist university professor considers acceptable and gives him cause to make a case for excessive white guilt. Furman University Professor of Education P.L. Thomas pushed the white guilt angle in a Huffington Post diatribe titled "Progressive, White Athletes Must Learn How To Stand In Solidarity."
By way of background, Professor Thomas, an avowed Marxist, is also the author of the book "Trumplandia: Unmasking Post-Truth America," in which he writes:
I was born and have lived my entire life in the cesspool of hypocrisy that is the Bible Belt -- where conservative Republicanism and Christian values are the thin veneer for hatred, bigotry, sexism, gun- lust, and enduring racism.
In his Huff Post screed, Thomas complains: "The NFL coddles and embraces a white ownership and white elite players who are directly partisan in their politics, but christens black activism as too political."
This is an indefensible claim. No one in a position of authority in the NFL batted an eyelash in recent days as Black NFL players Michael Bennett, Marshawn Lynch, Malcolm Jenkins and others freely protested what they view as systemic racism and police brutality. Tom Brady is practically in hiding over his support for President Trump, while Russell Wilson begs publicly for the return of Barack Obama.
Thomas is also irritated that Bennett's request for White players to show solidarity for Black players has thus far resulted in only "a slow drip" of White support. He's also angry that media talking heads are not in support of the Black protesters. It continues to "reek of a white resistance to resistance," he bemoans.
I don't know what talking heads he is imagining, though, because few if any major sports media are opposing the protest. Fox Sports favorably featured the protesters in its Super Bowl pre-game show.
It angers Thomas further that Black protesters are kneeling or standing with fist raised during the pre-game national anthem and some white players are standing nearby with a hand of support on their shoulders. He claims this is "ultimately a show of white correction ― a 'see how I am supporting you but I cannot actually kneel, sit, or raise a fist.'”
"The vitriol of white supremacists and their ideology" and "(t)heir hatred probably blinds and deafens them to black resistance and white solidarity," Thomas snarls. The professor launched into a lecture on what whites must consider before resisting Black resistance:
- Recognize that all whites benefit from white privilege and are complicit in systemic racism;
- Whites expressing white nationalism and white superiority are baseless and hate-filled ideologies that lack merit;
- Dignify black expressions of resistance and protest by honoring that space (stay out), remaining quiet in order to listen, and never interjecting a “yes, but” commentary;
- Saying you support a person’s right to protest, but disagree with the how and where is an act of racism; and
- Assume the history you know is flawed.
- Racism and white privilege were created by and maintained by whites with power, mostly ill-got power. Whites are now responsible for ending both.
Here are a couple take-aways from this far Left nonsense:
1. Professor Thomas heaps a lot of hate upon others without acknowledging his own.
2. We can resist the protests by turning off the NFL. Unfortunately, Professor Thomas's students can't do the same with him, and it's very troubling to think that that he, as an education professor, is preparing future generations of teachers by indoctrinating them with his white guilt mythology.
